Evora market watch, for discussion and to help those searching!

[jep]

I did wonder about that, having just had a 400 clutch and flywheel fitted to my 2010 NA. 

I do giggle at all car company press releases, which seem to spend an excessive amount of words on trashing the previous incarnation. McLaren are experts at this. 

Justin 

[Bruss]

58 minutes ago, Bravo73 said:

Yet another case of “Lotus printing something then not actually putting in on the cars.”:

“there is a new low inertia flywheel and clutch fitted to the MY12 Evora. The flywheel which has 46% less inertia improves engine response and the 36% reduction in clutch inertia means easier changes over 6,000 RPM and a quicker shift as the gearbox syncromeshes have more time to align the gears.”

That particular clutch/flywheel combo didn’t make it into the Evora until the 400 (4 years later).  

 

Just as soon as they had used up old stock. 😀

[Gazm]

14 hours ago, TdM said:

Now I know my car is the only white NA sports racer that doesn't have red wing mirrors

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012036750987?advertising-location=at_cars&is-quick-search=TRUE&postcode=sl67bj&model=EVORA&page=1&make=LOTUS&include-delivery-option=on&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&advertClassification=standard&sort=relevance&modal=tech-spec

£36k for a NA Sport Racer, seems a little high. I’d expect that for an S SR. 
Good news for those with one already. 

[JAWS]

11 hours ago, Bravo73 said:

I’ve just had a quick look through the ‘definitive buyers guide’ link and it’s not actually as definitive about the MY12 changes as it could be. It doesn’t cover a lot of them yet, unfortunately. (Where is a @JAWSwhen you need one, eh? 😉)

The second document is a classic case of Lotus printing something then not actually putting in on the cars. As one example, I don’t think that I’ve ever seen one of those supposed MY12 ‘pistol grip’ gearshift knobs on an actual car. AFAIK, all MY12 cars got the polished aluminium ball type gear knobs (which are really good, BTW). There are numerous other examples in that document as well. 

To be honest after 11 years I'm bored of repeating myself, so can't imagine what others think 😄

Maybe I should just copy and paste old posts 😂

The Mansory gear knob was never introduced, it wasn't legislated or tested. The aluminium one was introduced on the Sport Racer not MY12, then standardised later on.

The headlamps have always been Bi-Xenon (from 2009 to 2021) so don't know where that misinformation came from (cheekily they were a cost option). They changed from being gloss black to satin black mid 2010 for quality reasons and they lost the "Lotus" script when the car was introduced to China. But exactly the same lamps.

What I'm most interested in though is how @jep is getting on with the 400 flywheel and clutch. Great choice? No issues?

2 minutes ago, Gazm said:

£36k for a NA Sport Racer, seems a little high. I’d expect that for an S SR. 
Good news for those with one already. 

Personally I'd value an N/A higher than the S equivalent. And being an SR variant, that's a bit of a unicorn Evora.

 

[Gazm]

8 minutes ago, JAWS said:

 

Personally I'd value an N/A higher than the S equivalent. And being an SR variant, that's a bit of a unicorn Evora.

 

It is a personal thing, I’ve owned both and wouldn’t go back to an NA. But I also wouldn’t have a 4xx either (styling). The GTxxx range saved the day for the Evora... great to have 3 variants for all tastes and all with the Evora magic! 

[jep]

@JAWS all fine with 400 clutch and flywheel on my NA. Car runs superbly, the clutch pedal is still heavy by most standards but acceptable.  I cannot say I noticed any significant change to pick up or spinning of the revs - my NA has always felt nippy and free-revving so any marginal improvement, I would not notice.

Justin

[JAWS]

That's good to hear Justin and means there's a decent alternative upgrade/option. Would love to check it out one day, a back to back comparison to my original would be interesting.

[jep]

My Evora likes nothing more than a run out so very happy to hook up some time. It still felt heavier on the pedal than the 2011 S I have just sold but was a mild improvement on the old clutch (pedal pressure-wise).

Justin

 

[Gazm]

8 minutes ago, JAWS said:

 

Personally I'd value an N/A higher than the S equivalent. And being an SR variant, that's a bit of a unicorn Evora.

 

It is a personal thing, I’ve owned both and wouldn’t go back to an NA. But I also wouldn’t have a 4xx either (styling). The GTxxx range saved the day for the Evora... great to have 3 variants for all tastes and all with the Evora magic! 

[Chris C]

12 minutes ago, Gazm said:

It is a personal thing, I’ve owned both and wouldn’t go back to an NA. But I also wouldn’t have a 4xx either (styling). The GTxxx range saved the day for the Evora... great to have 3 variants for all tastes and all with the Evora magic! 

Clearly it's totally personal, but curious to know what you prefer about the GT over the 400. Is it just the rear window? Doesn't seem to be much else in it.

Chris.

[Gazm]

5 minutes ago, Chris C said:

Clearly it's totally personal, but curious to know what you prefer about the GT over the 400. Is it just the rear window? Doesn't seem to be much else in it.

Chris.

Hi Chris, not sure if you are referring to the USA model which didn’t get the new front. I’m comparing the 400 to the GT410/430 not the US GT. The main styling points on the 400 that put me off are the 3 piece wing(too disjointed/fussy) and the front bumper intakes(too Audi/Lambo). The GT410/430 seemed to return to the Lotus design language which also improved the aero package. Just personal preference. 
I’m intrigued to see what the Type131 will look like. 

[Bravo73]

8 hours ago, JAWS said:

Maybe I should just copy and paste old posts 😂

Yes please, Mr Whisperer:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rAdjE8w2Jc5jsvqbU3aA7U7ktkpdklRj8iAys4Bw__o/mobilebasic

[C8RKH]

11 hours ago, Gazm said:

£36k for a NA Sport Racer, seems a little high. I’d expect that for an S SR. 

Think it is about right for what looks like a really, really tidy, SR. There just is not much choice about.

11 hours ago, JAWS said:

Personally I'd value an N/A higher than the S equivalent. And being an SR variant, that's a bit of a unicorn Evora.

I would too!

 

@Gazm I went from an NA to a 410 Sport and WOULD quite happily go back to an NA. The 410 is undoubtedly the faster car but my oh my, the NA is the better, sweeter, driver in my very humble opinion.

@Chris C - I was not a fan of the 400 when it first came out. The front I could just about accept, but I hated the three piece rear wing. They they brought out the 4109 Sport with that ca4rbon ducktail and I just fell in love with the whole 410 Sport package, though that man @The Pits was instrumental in me buying one after he did a test video but also some PM's on the experience.

Over time the 400/410 front end has grown on me and I have to say I prefer the ducktail 410 Sport's rear to the GT410's rear. I just do not like the sad mouth look of the GT410 rear. I do like the GT410 front end though, even though it does look almost exactly like the Elise and Exige front end. I guess some people like a very strong "family" look.

[Colin P]

11 hours ago, C8RKH said:

Think it is about right for what looks like a really, really tidy, SR. There just is not much choice about.

I would too!

 

@Gazm I went from an NA to a 410 Sport and WOULD quite happily go back to an NA. The 410 is undoubtedly the faster car but my oh my, the NA is the better, sweeter, driver in my very humble opinion.

@Chris C - I was not a fan of the 400 when it first came out. The front I could just about accept, but I hated the three piece rear wing. They they brought out the 4109 Sport with that ca4rbon ducktail and I just fell in love with the whole 410 Sport package, though that man @The Pits was instrumental in me buying one after he did a test video but also some PM's on the experience.

Over time the 400/410 front end has grown on me and I have to say I prefer the ducktail 410 Sport's rear to the GT410's rear. I just do not like the sad mouth look of the GT410 rear. I do like the GT410 front end though, even though it does look almost exactly like the Elise and Exige front end. I guess some people like a very strong "family" look.

I agree. NA or 400 for me. The downsides of the "S" just don't stack up for me against the marginal performance gains over an N/A. 

Also agree that I didn't like the 400 styling to begin with, but it grows on you and these days I do think the S1 bumpers do date the car a bit these days. GT series bumpers are by far the best though.

Don't like the ducktail and I like the glass rear screen. 

So all in all - each to their own!

[Bruss]

Marginal performance gains?  You are joking, yes?

[C8RKH]

3 hours ago, Colin P said:

. NA or 400 for me. The downsides of the "S" just don't stack up for me

I agree. I'd buy an NA if I wanted an S1 as I don't see the value in the extra for the S. If I wanted more performance over the NA then I'd go for a 4xx car. It is well put together. Easier to get in and out of. And has oodles of performance.

Not saying the S is a bad car at all by the way.

[Colin P]

3 hours ago, Bruss said:

Marginal performance gains?  You are joking, yes?

Not yours, but a standard S versus NA, real world, on the road. 

I accept it may be different on track.

[Bruss]

I think you are right in point to point times, but then I suspect my old 120D BMW would be just as fast. I think the difference is in the driving experience. The S is a lazy torquey very quick car. The NA is a buzzy, constant gear change, exciting (if you like that sort of thing) drive to keep up. Not that different on track to be fair. The NA can be thrown round a track pretty quickly but it is a different experience to the S.

 

 

 

 

[Gazm]

It’s a while since I traded my NA for the S but I think the real world, on the road acceleration of the S “feels” significantly more than the NA for overtaking etc... but as I said, they all have that Evora magic. These will be VERY sought after in the future. 
 

[Colin P]

33 minutes ago, Bruss said:

 The NA is a buzzy, constant gear change, exciting (if you like that sort of thing) drive to keep up. 

 

Now you see I'd put that is the N/As positive column 

 

[Giveitfish]

Interesting comments. I often daydream about getting back in an Evora. I loved my NA SR, don't quite love the 400 look, like the current cars but can't afford them.

I'd be interested to hear which gearbox your NA cars had to compare? I imagine there is quite a different feel between the long-ratio early cars (better GT cars) and the close-ratio box like mine had.

For me the car felt quick but never eye-widening shove-in-the-back quick like a turbocharged or electric car can be. All the same, over a hard-driven weekend in the Scottish borders there was nothing in it between my car and my friends BMW M140i.

[C8RKH]

8 hours ago, Giveitfish said:

All the same, over a hard-driven weekend in the Scottish borders there was nothing in it between my car and my friends BMW M140i.

Driving hard but not stupid on public roads and the difference I bet between an NA and a GT430 will be down to the driver, not car.

A straight drag race, no chance for the NA.

On track, no chance for the NA.

That's why no difference between your car and 140i. However I bet you in the NA were more composed than the 140i driver.

Just my opinion 

[TdM]

Think this rings true. It's the reason I wanted an NA. I had a car that was punch you in the back fast in a straight line. That could be fun (especially watching cars retreating in the rear-view mirror) but it was often a practice of constant restraint and there wasn't much time between corners to enjoy the shove. It was also quite a lazy experience as you could just leave it in gear and dial in whatever speed you wanted.

I wanted something that would build through the rev range and give you time to enjoy the accelerative experience as well as the corners. It's not THAT fast in a straight line but it's certainly not slow and it accelerates in a fun building wave which feels more frenetic due to it's rev happy nature. On the road it's not about straight line speed it's about the experience and fun it grants you along the way.

[Kimbers]

I Had an M3 give it large coming off Thickthorne roundabout her in Norwich last year. Whilst the Evora dug in and gripped I could see him sawing at the wheel and he must have lifted. By the time he got on it he couldn't catch me till I lifted....at the legal speed limit.... I just kept it planted.

I think on the roads, its all about the driver and of course the presence. There's only one thing that disappoints living 3 miles from the factory, everyone has seen so many they don't even notice you.

[Messer]

Oakmere have just listed a silver 400 2+2 at £44k